The S7 MaxV Ultra has the same sonic, vibra-rising mopping action of the S7, so it mops very well. But it also has AI-powered obstacle recognition, so it won’t get caught out by clutter and can avoid stepping in dog poop. There’s also the option of using the onboard camera as a security camera, with two-way talk built-in.
However, it has a shorter battery life than the Roborock and tends to get stuck a little more frequently. With just a 75-minute runtime, this is another iRobot model that would be better in a smaller space, said Williams, though it is a step up from the 600 series. The Roomba i series are equipped with tracking sensors, so instead of random navigation around your home, the i series can clean bare floors and carpeting in neat, straight lines, says the brand.
We’ve also discovered that, as of late 2021, several other brands are selling near-copies of the Eufy bots. Senior staff writer Rachel Cericola first started testing smart-home devices more than 20 years ago, when the only smart-home devices were X10. She has been covering smart-home gear for Wirecutter since 2016, and she has had her hands on everything from in-wall light switches, LED bulbs, and water-leak detectors to video doorbells, outdoor security cameras, and security systems.
The result is that although Roombas are effective at cleaning rooms, they take several times longer to do the job than a human would. The Roomba may cover some areas many times, other areas only once or bissell crosswave cordless twice, and may miss some areas. However, the random algorithm has been shown to effectively cover rooms of various sizes and configurations, particularly when used repeatedly for maintenance cleaning.
The mapping feature allows you to set a schedule to clean only certain rooms or send it off at any time to clean just the kitchen or living room. This helps make it less intrusive since it doesn’t try to clean the whole house on every run — meaning you’re less likely to find it sitting silently in a corner because an annoyed family member shut it off. However, it does take a long time to map your home initially , because iRobot uses its own navigation tech and not lidar, which most other mapping bots use to map in minutes. This is a good option if you need a basic bot that will get the job done and don’t mind ditching the fancy features of the higher-end models. It’s a powerful robot that rarely got stuck in my testing, even on my high-pile, fluffy, tasseled living room rug I’ve nicknamed the robot killer. Your robot vacuum will only clean your home as thoroughly as it’s capable of navigating it.
With iRobot OS, you can choose to set your robot to automatically start cleaning when you leave and stop when you come home, so you only notice the clean and never the cleaning. We sent them on a normal run of the house cleaning run as well as runs with handfuls of cat litter on the floor and carpeting. Even the most advanced models can’t get into every crevice and hard-to-reach space, and they can’t vacuum upholstery, drapes, closets, drawers and kitchen cabinets, or anything else that isn’t a horizontal surface.
It’s shorter than most bots, which lets it glide under more furniture, picking up plenty of hidden debris. The big downside is that the RoboVac 11S and other bots like it don’t seem to be built to last for more than a couple of years on average, and we’ve heard about plenty of unrepairable breakdowns that happen even sooner. And although the 11S can get your floors much cleaner than if you didn’t vacuum at all, this bot just isn’t built to dig up much debris from rugs, especially softer, thicker types. With the app-controlled, WiFi-enabled Shark IQ Robot Self-Empty XL, you can set it and forget it for up to 30 days.
Self-emptying or not, most robot vacuums also equip small HEPA filters that capture allergens as they run. Most self-emptying models transfer the contents of their bin into a bag, which can hold around 30 to 60 days’ worth of debris, irobot vacuum cleaner depending on how often you vacuum and how dirty your home is. The nice thing is that you never have to come into contact with dust and debris. The downside is that you eventually have to buy more bags when you run out.
The j7+ also did a superb job of steering clear of items like headphones and lamp cords, outdoing similar high-end smart robots like the Samsung JetBot+ courtesy of its front-mounted sensor and lights. Once the J7+ completes the initial mapping setup of your home — which takes some effort and input from you — the robot takes care of the rest. It’s also louder than the j7 when it’s cleaning, but not irritatingly so, and I noticed a deeper clean in my carpets thanks to the extra suction. And it changes its cleaning mode automatically when transitioning from, say, carpeting to a hardwood floor. That’s one feature I was happy I never got to test, as my cat kept all of her activity to her litter box. Otherwise, the Roomba j7 did a good job sucking up dirt and debris around my apartment and it didn’t make too much noise while doing so.